University package under the spotlight

Education Minister Simon Birmingham will face detailed questions over his plan to cut $2.8 billion from universities and charge students higher fees.

While public debate on the university package has largely been subsumed by the noise around schools funding, senators will focus on the nitty gritty of higher education first in a budget estimates hearing on Wednesday.

The government wants to impose a 2.5 per cent “efficiency dividend” on university teaching funding in 2018 and 2019, increase student fees by up to $3600 for a four-year degree, and drop the income threshold when graduates must start repaying HELP debts to $42,000.

It also wants to tie 7.5 per cent of university funding to performance measures including transparency of enrolment processes and student outcomes, although any funding that is cut from a poor-performing university will be given to better performers, not returned to the federal budget.